BAT FACTS

A colony of 200 pipistrelles can
consume 109 million insects in a
season. Bats are a natural insecticide making a valuable contribution to
your environment.

Prey Analysis

To help us build a better understanding of bat foraging
behaviour and what specifically they are feeding upon, aquatic
invertebrate surveys were carried out by Craig Macadam of Bradan
Aquasurveys Ltd. This work consisted of a systematic search of the
marginal vegetation at selected sites, followed by a scoop of the
sediments on the canal bed.

The initial results showed that the canals hold a healthy
population of aquatic invertebrates, however the majority of these live
solely within the water and would therefore not be available prey for
bats.

Aquatic insects, the potential prey for foraging bats,
were well represented with ten separate families recorded. The most
common of these were the non-biting midges, Chironomidae.
These small insects are well known prey for many species of bats and it
was anticipated that they would make up the majority of specimens
found. The samples collected were identified to species level,
thus allowing flight periods, adult sizes, and hence the potential for
the species to be a prey item for bats to be determined.

Our research included the following areas of
study :-

Analysis of bat faeces to establish prey consumed.

Aquatic invertebrate surveys.

Water quality using Average Score Per Taxon modelling.

The relationships between bats and their associated ectoparasites

Craig Macadam with a couple of young
onlookers
Forth & Clyde Canal 2002